Legislative Briefly

Reid pushes for Daniel Bogden to get old job back

WASHINGTON (AP) " A former U.S. attorney for Nevada who was forced to resign in late 2006 could soon be getting his old job back if Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has his way.

Reid said Monday that he's supporting Daniel Bogden to once again serve as the U.S. attorney for the District of Nevada.

Bogden was one of nine federal prosecutors told to resign by senior officials at the Justice Department in the previous Bush administration, a move that later led to resignations at the department and investigations into whether politics was behind the dismissals.

"It was just not fair to have Bogden with this mark on him, this scarlet letter of being a bad U.S. attorney, because everybody acknowledges nothing was bad about him," Reid, D-Nev., said in an interview.

Reid said he didn't know why Bogden was asked to resign. He speculated that this "was just Karl Rove trying to get back at Nevada I guess."

In testimony before Congress, Justice Department officials cited no particular deficiency in Bogden's performance, but there was an interest "in seeing renewed energy and renewed vigor in that office." The department's inspector general said none of the senior officials they interviewed had recommended that Bodgen be removed.